Director Jiang Wen compares his much-anticipated The Sun Also Rises to a good bottle of aged wine. After seven years of hype and expectation, the romantic and visually beautifully film is finally ready for consumption.

"It's just like wine, if you put it into storage, the longer you leave it, the more wonderful it will taste," says Jiang. The Sun Also Rises opens in Chinese cinemas today.

It has already screened in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, but the director admits he was somewhat nervous ahead of the release in his home country.

Jiang stars with Joan Chen (pictured) and Zhou Yun in the film, which took one year and $10 million to make. Coming seven years after his last release, Jiang said he had visualized The Sun Also Rises for many years. He said the story touched him, and he hopes it will do the same for viewers.

The film, a fantasy that is full of fluid motion and stunning effect, has piqued public interest since its inception. Yet still Jiang is at a loss to explain its story.

"It's hard to say what the movie is about" has been repeated by the director. The movie is made up of four stories. They are linked but also separate. One story is about madness; one is about love; another is about a gun; and one is about a dream. The plot follows six characters.

(China Daily 09/12/2007 page6)